As the grandson of a junior-high English teacher, I feel obligated to reply to
a couple things in this.
>He turned quickly to face the newcomer, wondering how they had snuck up on
him.
No they. He. Newcomer is gender unspecific and thus in English is
masculine. She would be permissable, because you're about to reveal it's >
Ritsuko.
-Interesting theory. Very. I'm being gender-non specific, so I don't >agree
on the newcomer point. After all, 'the newcomer' sounds better than >'the new
person'.
"They" simply does not work here. "The newcomer" is singular. "They" is
plural. Singular antecedents take singular pronouns.
And again:
> "A Martial Artist's duty, his honor, lies not with
>himself, but in helping and protecting those in need - those
>who cannot, or will not, defend themselves - to the best of
>their ability.
his ability
-Actually, take a look at the subject. A Martial Artist. I'm being
non-specific, so it works.
No, it doesn't. "A Martial Artist" is singular. "They" is plural. Pronouns
must agree with their antecedents in number. In this case, you've already
used masculine, singular pronouns with that antecedent: "his honor" and
"himself." Upon reading that sentence, I would have assumed that "their"
refers to "those in need." In this case, you have the option of making the
antecedent and all pronouns that reference it plural: "Martial artists' duty,
their honor, lies not with themselves...."
Unfortunately, the English language does not contain a neutral, singular
pronoun that can be used with living creatures--"it" implies an inanimate
object. The traditional solution is to use masculine form in situations that
require a neutral form. This, of course, is not politically correct. To
address this issue, things like "s/he" and "his or her" have been used. This
is not a good option, but it's better than using a plural pronoun with a
singular antecedent. The other possibility is to use the _feminine_ form for
neutral, but this can be confusing to the reader.
Defender of the Light
Elite Mage
Junior Member of the Inner Circle of the Mage's Council
"Contrary to popular opinion, magic and science _do_ mix."
"Of _course_ I cheated. Scientists think magic is cheating, and mages think
most forms of technology are cheating. I use both."
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